The intake manifold designed by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) generally prioritizes performance for a particular vehicle without regard to complexity of the manifold's design or cost. One such OEM intake manifold has seven molded elements that require four different welds and eleven discrete manufacturing processes to assemble a manifold. Because OEM intake manifolds are also specific to a particular vehicle, vehicle trim line, and/or engine option, different vehicles utilizing the same engine block may still have multiple permutations of the manifold in order to match the specifics of that vehicle. This variation results in multiple product SKUs that necessitate increased handling and storage space. This variation also cause the aftermarket replacement manifolds to be more difficult to produce and expensive.
The aftermarket desires a solution to the prior art problems that reduces the number of parts and simplifies the manufacturing process with resulting efficiencies in inventory management.